Rural Girls’ Talent Challenge
A GLIMPSE at your Youth Paper supplement of the December 4: A photograph of a bevy of seven beauties lined up confronts me. All smiling, all identically dressed in black T-shirts inscribed in gold. ‘Miss Okapya 2012’ the inscription notifies.
The bottom part of the collective outfits is more or less uniform as well, tight blue or black jeans (low strung or hung) – suggesting that this is (I assume) casual wear. They all are undeniably beautiful in a media-dictated generic sort of way – quite light skinned, hair straightened (except for one girl with braids.) All seven are striking identical poses.
Why does this picture and its accompanying text bother me? Is it because I am just a jealous old woman who likes to criticise beautiful young people? Some self reflection going on.
We are informed that the third Miss Okapya pageant will take place in Ondangwa later this month and that the main aim of the event is to “give opportunities to girls in rural areas to show off their talents.” So far so good.
Following the text, the reader is informed that the event will kick off with a bikini car wash about half way through this month.
After being perplexed for a while, the realisation that this makes complete sense slowly dawns on me: This is an event that is truly empowering for young rural Namibian girls. It catapults them out of stereotypical female roles straight into that old male-dominated domain, the car.
A typical northern Namibian woman or girl is good for the field and good for the kitchen. She might even be good for the bed. Here we have an event that will definitively prove to the world that your emancipated modern-day rural girl can be good for cars – and that she has talent in this respect as well.
For clearly – from looking at the girls – who are all equally, almost homogeneously beautiful – the competition is not about looks only. The winner of this competition will have to demonstrate that her talent, to wash a car, surpasses that of her competitors. The fact that the girls will be in bikinis – surely – has to be a handicap in the same way that horses in a race are handicapped.
The question is whether the handicap will be in the struggle to keep the bikini up and all the bits and bobs in during all this physical exertion, or whether it will lie in the girls’ ability to (tastefully of course) reveal enough flesh and crevices – which just might be a determining factor to individualise their unique beauty.
I would very much like to know what other challenges the organisers of this event have in mind to showcase the girls’ individual or collective talents. I am also wondering what wonderful prizes might await the winner or winners of this talent show. Dreaming once again, I imagine that there might be a bit of cash in store for the lucky chosen one. I also imagine that there might be photo opportunities with our male social celebs also mentioned in the text – one thing might even lead to another (if you catch my drift.) Truly this will be a great opportunity for these rural girls!
As the mother of a teenage girl myself, I am almost regretting that my daughter cannot participate in this illustrious girls’ empowerment event. For one, she is not a rural girl and her car washing skills are rubbish. What a shame!
My colleague, on the other hand, will give all these girls a real run for their money. She is already on the bus to Ondangwa for Miss Okapya 2013. My personal talent is washing bikinis in a car!
Laura Sasman
Director:
Sister Namibia
By email